Water cooled chiller have been a fundamental part of refrigeration equipment. Its applications vary: large HVAC installations, such as hotels or offices; process areas or distribution centers that use high temperature; and equipment support, among others.
The water-chilled cooler is a refrigerating machine, and its main objective is to reduce the temperature of a liquid, mainly water or its mixture with various percentages of glycol.
Its process takes place simultaneously with an alternate refrigeration cycle and can be direct expansion, recirculated refrigerant, alternate, et.c. However, let’s talk about its operations and advantages.
Advantages of Water cooled Chiller
The main advantages of using a water cooled chiller are the following:
1. Precision
Thanks to the chiller’s electronic operating control, the water obtained is kept at a constant temperature according to its programming; using this liquid in a diffuser system allows the temperature to be maintained more precisely than in a traditional system. This is very useful for pharmaceutical, maturation or hospital applications, where the temperature of the room needs to fluctuate as little as possible.
2. Operation stability
In a traditional refrigeration system, the compressors, as the target temperature is reached, present operating cycles that cause current consumption peaks due to the fact that the temperature of the room increases.
If there is a constant cycle of water inlet and outlet, the compressor is always in operation, avoiding these variations.
3. Installation costs
These units use a very low amount of refrigerant and many of them are even pre-charged because the measurement depends exclusively on the exchanger, regardless of the characteristics of the installation.
This, however, is due to the fact that the primary fluid that circulates through the entire installation is actually cold water, which can be transported through PVC or stainless steel pipes.
It is of great help in hotels or distribution centers, where the cost of refrigerant and piping would be reduced.
The Water cooled chiller and its operation
The most common configuration of a chiller consists of a direct expansion refrigeration system; the cycle of standard equipment has no relevant changes compared to a conventional system, and offers two main levels:
1. Low pressure
In which the refrigerant absorbs heat to change from liquid to gas phase and, subsequently, through the compression process, increases its pressure and temperature.
2. High-pressure zone
In which the refrigerant releases heat to the environment to carry out the condensation process, and the liquid line enters the expansion device, which reduces the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant, and takes it to the mixing zone to start the cycle again.
The conventional direct expansion refrigeration cycle consists of four main elements:
i. Compressor
ii. Air-cooled condenser
iii. Expansion device
iv. Evaporator/Heat Exchanger
Breakdown Preventive Maintenance Of Water Cooled Chiller
Visual inspection: Detection of damaged components, refrigerant leaks, cleaning of condensers, vibrations in the compressor (fastening screws), thermal insulation, pressure drops, connection protections, oil heating resistors, refrigerant tests, oil pressure in compressors.
Post time: Nov-16-2022